Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus configured to feed sheets, and to an image forming apparatus including the sheet feeding apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, in image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine configured to form an image on a sheet, sheets stacked in a cassette are fed through use of a sheet feeding apparatus to form images on the fed sheets. In this case, in response to conveyance of the sheet to a predetermined position in a conveyance path, the sheet feeding apparatus separates pickup rollers from the sheet and switches a feed motor to a high speed mode to convey the sheet at higher speed with a roller located downstream of the pickup rollers, thus allowing intervals between the sheets to be reduced while increasing the printing speed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-110835).
In the related-art configuration, however, it is necessary to separate the pickup rollers from the sheet at a timing at which the sheet conveying speed is increased, thus causing a problem in that the apparatus configuration is complicated.